The present invention relates generally to apparatus for monitoring and collecting appropriate fees for parking in specific locations, such as designated parking zones in specific areas, such as sections of a city etc. More particularly, it relates to apparatus and method for utilizing a stationary radio transmitter to automatically collect fees for vehicle parking in a restricted area by communicating parking fee information to all vehicles carrying an actuated transponder within the area, and by collecting the required parking fees from those vehicles by means of debiting a prepaid monetary amount stored in a memory within the transponder.
In areas which provide for metered parking such as in designated parking zones on city streets, meters, requiring cash to be inserted, provide paid parking per unit time. In this situation the deposited cash is collected from the meters from time to time and parking monitors, or police, ticket vehicles parked beside meters where the paid for time has expired.
The metered parking system known in the art does, however, have drawbacks. For example, the vehicle operator must have cash in the correct denominations, and the cash stored in the meter must be collected from time to time. The meters themselves are sometimes subjected to abuse, entry of false coins and other treatment rendering them inoperative.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an automatic parking payment system which debits prepaid amounts credited in a vehicle borne transponder, which responds to an area transmitter transmitting a cost per unit time signal.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for paid parking in designated zones on city streets without requiring cash deposits and transfers at the parking zone.
Other general and specific objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.